Steam-engine



(NoMoael.) zsheets-sheet 1. A. J.& H. A. FOULDS.

` ASTEAM ENGINE. No. 408,704, Patented Aug. 13, 1889.

N4 PETERS. Phono-Limugnphan Wnhngwn, D. :4

`.2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(NoMoaeL) A. J. 8v H. A. POULDS. STEAM ENGINE.

No. 408,704. Patented Aug. 13, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED J. FOULDS AND HENRY A. FOULDS, OF PHILADELPHIA,

' PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,704, dated August 13, 1889.

I Application led October 8, 1888. Serial No. 287,591. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that We, ALFRED J. FoULDs and HENRY A. FOULDS, 'of Philadelphia, in 'the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful lin- 4provement in Steam-Engines; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

It is the object of our invention to provide a steam-engine of few parts, and consequently not liable to get out of order, of such construction as to be economical of manufacture, and which shall be adapted to all ordinary purposes for which a steam-engineis required, but by reason of its compactness be particularly desirable to run special machines, Whether in shops or isolated. In this respect our invention will be found exceedingly useful and economical, as in cases Where special machines are run at intervals only all extra shafting and belting thereto may be dispensed with, and our engine placed in position in proximity to the machine or in connection therewith, requiring only a steam-supply pipe and exhaust, and thus by simply turning a cock in the steam-supply pipe the engine may be put in action at will. The engine is also of such simple and compact construction that it may be' made of very small size to operate toys and the like. l

The engine relates to that class in which pistons are Vsupported from a stationary shaft or shafts and the cylinders. are carried bya revolving wheel; but in the present invention We have simplified this form of engine and greatly improved yits general construction, with theresnlt of increased efficiency.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical section through the wheel and cylinders of one form of our invention. Fig. 2 is a view of the same in vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a'vertical section of another form, in which opposite cylinders are placed'outof line. Figs. 4 and 5 representvertical sections taken longitudinally of a modified form, Fig. at being a section through one set of cylinders and Fig. 5 through the other set, showing the induction and eduction passage to the same. Figs. 6 and 7 represent the elongated passage in the hub of the Wheel in two positions. Fig. 8

is a View of the interior of the hub-standard, showing the induction and eduction ports.

In the drawings, the standards of the engine are shown at A A, of suitable size and material. These standards have bearings aa for the revolving wheel, which also serves as a fly-wheel. This wheel carries the cylinders b b, secured thereto or cast therewith, as may be found convenient, the said cylinders extending inward toward the center of the Wheel, as shown in Figs. l and 2.orout ofline therewith, as in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. The periphery of the wheel extends in an unbroken line around t-he cylinders and forms the outer ends thereof. Vhen the cylinders and the wheel are cast together, the cylinders may be bored through the periphery and these openings in the periphery covered with caps or plugged flush with the wheel-face; or the cylinders may be cast with a part of the hub in one piece and open-ended and the periphery and spokes in one piece with the other part of the hub and the two parts placed together, and then the ends of the cylinders be covered by caps held in place by screws or bolts or in any other desirable manner. The Wheel may have its hub extended on one or both sides to forma pulley or pulleys, from which a band or bands may be 'led to shaftin g or machin e to be driven; or the power of the wheel may be communicated in any other desirable or well-known way. Within the cylinders 1J are pistons c, properly packed, fitting said cylinders snugly, and rods d connect the pistons to a shaft e, fixed to thel bearing-plates a a of the standard, placed off the center of the Wheel. The rods are pivoted to the pistons and to the shaft, so as to allow each rod to freely assume the positions necessary in thecomplete revolution of the wheel. Vte prefer to make the Wheel open between the cylinders, so as to lessen its weight. Each cylinder has a steam-passage along its side opening into the cylinder at the point f, as shown, and at the opposite end of the passage comm unieates with induction and eduction ports in the face of the standard-hub. This hub has a steam-passage on one side, as at f, and an exhaust on the opposite side at 71.

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The steam-port in the face of the wheelhub is elongated, and as soon as a cylinder reaches a perpendicular position it begins to take steam, and the steam-port is of such size that it continues to take steam for about threeeighths of the revolution. For another eighth the revolution is aided by the expansion of the steam, and as the cylinder begins on the second half of its revolution it begins to exhaust until the elongated port passes entirely beyond the eduetion-port in the standard-hub. It will be understood thatthe elongated ports serve both as induction and eduction ports. In Figs. 1 and 2 the cylinders of each pair are shown placed exactly opposite each other, while in Fig. 3 we show the cylinders of each pair placed out-of line with eachother. Then they are thus out of line,a single supportingshaft may connect the inner ends of the rods, as before described, and shown in Figs. l and 2; but we prefer in this case to provide a shaft for each set, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. In these iigures four cylinders are shown with two supporting-shafts for the piston ends. These shafts, as shown in Figs. et and 5, extendonly one-half of the distance between the bearing-plates, a supporting plate or disk being interposed between the inner ends of the two shafts, as shown at i. The rods of opposite cylinders are connected to one shaft, the ends being bent for the purpose, and the rods of the other cylinders, in a like manner, are connected to the second shaft.

By providing independent crank rods or shafts for each pair of cylinders, as shown in Fig. 3, we secure a balance to the engine which is not obtained when the piston-rods of all the cylinders are connected to a single crank, as it is cbvious that when they are all So connected there is a torsional twist upon the parts which manifests itself in the irregular wearing of the bearings, while in the construction shown in Fig. 3 the crank-pins are diametrically opposite and a perfect balance is secured. lVhen two crank-pins are usedone for each pairof piston-rods-we prefer to take the steam for one pair of cylinders from one side andthe steam for the other pair of cylinders from the opposite side, as more clearly shown in Figs. t and 5. The construction of the parts is substantially the same, the only difference being that the two cylinders of one pair have their steam-passages on one sidesay to the left, as shown in Fig. -l-while the cylinders of the other pair have their steampassages on the right, asin Fig. 5, these passages being adapted, by means of their elongated por1s,to register with the respective steam and exhaust openings on one side or the other. With this construction not only, as we have stated, do we secure a more perfect balance than in the f orm where the piston-rods are all connected to a single crankpin, but we also secure added power. It is true that we do not utilize anylarger amount of steam than in the simple form,as each cylinder in both forms takes steam once during a revolution; but while in the simple form of engine steam is taken from one port as each cylinder passes thatport, in the form, shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 two ports are provided diametrically opposite each other, so that while the live steam is being admitted to the upper cylinder of Fig. 3 the next quarter-turn will bring one of the cylinders of theV next pair to the steam-port on the other side, and this. cylinder' will receive its impulse from the live steam from a point directly opposite that at which the cylinder following it has taken steam, and in this way it will be seen that live steam is taken from both sides, which adds to the balance of the engine, and further provides for the admission of the live steam at diametrically-opposite points, instead of simply at one point, and as the admission of the live steam at the opposite side acts at a time when the steam admitted at the first port is at full head greater power is secured. Instead of having the ports in the standard-hub, the supporting-shaft may be made hollow for this purpose.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is l. A steam-engine consisting of a wheel, cylinders carried thereby extending inwardly eeeentrically, pistons in the said cylinders, rods having pivoted connections with the pistons, and a stationary shaft for the ends of each pair of rods of opposite cylinders, said rods having a pivoted connection at each end, substantially as described.l

2. A steam-engine consisting of a wheel, cylinders carried thereby, pistons within the same, two stationary shafts having a support.- ing-plate 'i between them, the said shafts being placed eccentrically to the center of the wheel, and rods from the pistons to the shafts, the -rods of oppositely-placed cylinders being pivoted on the same shaft, substantially as described.

8. A steam-engine consisting of a wheel, cylinders carried thereby, pistons within the same, a stationary shaft for each pair of pistons, piston-rods pivotally connected between the stationary shafts and their pistons, and induction and eduction port-s at one side for the cylinders of one pair and like ports on the other side for the cylinders of the other pair, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specilieation in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED J. rouLns. nENRv A. EoULns.

Witnesses:

R. W. MYERS, W. S. Y. MYERS..

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